Picture hangers



Dec. 9, 1969 H. LEISER 3,482,812

PICTURE HANGERS Filed April 19, 1968 INVENTOR. HENRY LEISER ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,482,812 PICTURE HANGERS Henry Leiser, 1478 Clermont St., Denver, Colo. 80220 Filed Apr. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 722,638 Int. Cl. A47g 1/16' US. Cl. 248-493 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE objects on a wall and more particularly to picture hangers.

Heretofore, pictures have been hung on a nail or a hook which engages a wire extending across the back of the picture and which is secured at each end to the picture frame. The picture is usually hung with the center portion of the wire engaging the nail or hook. The picture is normally balanced on the nail or hook in such a manner that it hangs straight.

The wire across the back of the picture is free to slide across the hook or nail and should the wire become decentralized with respect to the hook or nail the picture would become unbalanced and askew.

Conventional picture hooks are usually secured by a nail driven into a wall. In hanging a picture on such a hook it is necessary to peer behind the picture to make sure the cross wire on the frame has engaged the hook rather than the nail or upper part of the hook. Ordinarily the nail is driven into the wall at an angle which should approximate the angle at which the hook will hang parallel to a wall.

It is an object of the invention to provide a picture hanger which is simple in construction and economical to manufacture.

Another object is to provide a hanger which will frictionally engage the cross wire of a picture frame and prevent it from slipping.

A further object is to provide a hanger wherein the wire engaging portions are held against a wall under tenson.

It is another object to provide a hanger on which the cross wire of a picture frame may be easily installed. It is a further object to provide a hanger mounted on a nail which frictionally engages the cross wire of a picture frame, regardless of the angle of the nail with respect to the wall.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawing and claims appended hereto.

Referring to the drawing.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a hanger embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the device shown in FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arows 2-2.

3,482,812 Patented Dec. 9, 1969 FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a hanger mounted on a wall with the cross wire of a picture frame in position on the hanger; the fragmentary portion of the wall is shown in cross section; the fragmentary portion of the picture frame is shown in broken lines and the cross wire is shown in cross section at the point where it is engaged by the hanger.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the hanger with the cross wire in supported position taken along section 4-4 of FIG. 3.

In the drawings, wherein like characters are used to designate like parts.

A nail is indicated at 12 having a head 13. A spring wire 14 is coiled about the shank of the nail 12. The coils 14 adjacent the head of the nail are uniform and are closely wound about the nail; the bottom two coils 15 and 16 are larger and are not wound about the shank of the nail 12. The number of coils adjacent the head of the nail may be varied in accordance with the conditions of use.

As shown in FIG. 1 the loosely wound coils 15 and 16 have a slight space between them. In FIG. 3 the shank portion of the nail 12 has been driven into a wall 17 to the extent that the head 13 compresses the spring 14. The coil 16 is held against the surface of the wall 17 under tension. The lower portions of the coils 15 and 16 are held together under tension, whereas the upper portions of these coils are slightly spaced apart.

FIG. 3 shows a picture frame 18 with eyes 19 screwed into the back on each side. A cross wire 20 extends across the back of the picture and is connected to an eye on each side. Intermediate the eyes 19 the cross wire 20 passes between the lower coils 15 and 16 and is frictionally engaged by the lower portions of these coils.

In operation the nail 12 is driven into the wall 17 at an angle. The head 13 compresses the spring 14 and the lower coils of the spring 14 wound about the shank of the nail 12 engages the lower portion of coil 15 holding it against the lower portion of coil 16; this causes the upper portions of coils 15 and 16 to part slightly for the easy insertion of wire 20 between them. The coil 16' is compressed against the surface of the wall 17.

In installing a picture frame on a wall, the cross wire 20, is in a substantially horizontal position. The picture frame 18 is then held against the wall with the cross wire 20 above the coil 16 and then lowered until the cross wire becomes engaged between coils 16 and 15. The cross wire may then be moved horizontally in either direction until it is suitably hung. Since the cross wire 20 is frictionally engaged by the coils 15 and 16 it will not slip and the picture will retain the position in which it is set.

It is to be understood that this disclosure is by way of illustration and not limitation and that various other embodiments of the invention will "become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A picture hanger comprising a nail having a shank and a head, a coil spring mounted on said shank, the coils of said spring adjacent said head being closely coiled about the shank and coils adjacent said first named coils having portions of their outer surfaces in engagement with said shank.

2. A picture hanger as defined in claim 1 wherein the last named coils are spaced from each other.

3. A picture hanger as defined in claim 1 wherein the last named coils are larger than the first named coils.

4. A picture hanger as defined in claim 1 wherein some of the last named coils have a portion of their outer surfaces in engagement with the shank and others have their outer surfaces spaced from the shank.

5. A picture hanger as defined in claim 1 wherein one of the coils of the spring adjacent the head of the shank 10 is in engagement with the head.

4 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 651,482 6/ 1900 Greenfield 24874 2,125,770 8/1938 Dabroski '248-493 FOREIGN PATENTS 518,944 2/ 1931 Germany.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner FRANK DOMOTOR, Assistant Examiner 

